UK left-wingers, what do you think of actor, Martin Clunes, opposing travellers by his home?
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ninalanyon · 61-69, T
I don't know anything about that. But there have been enough incidents of travellers parking vans on common land and leaving it a complete mess when they leave that I can understand anyone being at least concerned if any were to turn up and park their vans near their home.
I daresay that it is a minority who behave this way but the reputation persists. The British government doesn't help either. By making it so complicated and time consuming to move people on when they park and litter it makes what could be a small local problem into national news so that everyone believes the worst and believes that it is happening everywhere.
Do other countries have problems with travellers?
I know that we had a camp of Polish and other Eastern European men around a lake about 25 km from where I live in Norway in the 1990s. It was tolerated for a while but then it got bigger and became a well know place to go to get building work done on the black.
So one day the police simply turned up with trailers and earth moving equipment, checked everyone's passports, employment and residence status. They arrested those who were in breach of immigration and tax regulations, seized vehicles that were illegal to drive and informed everyone remaining that the rules are quite straightforward: you can camp in most of the country but only for two days in anyone spot. They then directed the earth movers to block the access to the space so that no vehicles could park there.
This seems to have been enough to discourage people from doing it again and there is now a good quality car park there that people do sometimes stop in but not in large numbers or for longer than allowed.
I daresay that it is a minority who behave this way but the reputation persists. The British government doesn't help either. By making it so complicated and time consuming to move people on when they park and litter it makes what could be a small local problem into national news so that everyone believes the worst and believes that it is happening everywhere.
Do other countries have problems with travellers?
I know that we had a camp of Polish and other Eastern European men around a lake about 25 km from where I live in Norway in the 1990s. It was tolerated for a while but then it got bigger and became a well know place to go to get building work done on the black.
So one day the police simply turned up with trailers and earth moving equipment, checked everyone's passports, employment and residence status. They arrested those who were in breach of immigration and tax regulations, seized vehicles that were illegal to drive and informed everyone remaining that the rules are quite straightforward: you can camp in most of the country but only for two days in anyone spot. They then directed the earth movers to block the access to the space so that no vehicles could park there.
This seems to have been enough to discourage people from doing it again and there is now a good quality car park there that people do sometimes stop in but not in large numbers or for longer than allowed.